Classifiers

Problem

This simple script Imagine that you have SSH access to a server and you need to
grant access to a coworker. You must remember to perform multiple steps, such
as creating a home directory, setting a password, making sure the user is
included in the correct groups, etc. If the server requires public key
authentication (the default for Amazon EC2), then you must also put the keys in
the right place, with the right ownership and permissions. Screw up any tiny
part and OpenSSH will stubbornly and unhelpfully block the new user without any
explanation why.

Yo dawg, I heard you like -vvv flags so I put some LogLevel VERBOSE in your sshd_config.

You could do these things yourself, but if you’re like me, you tend to miss a
step every now and then. Or you could write a bash script to do it, but then
you’d have to copy that bash script everywhere you ever wanted to use it. And
if you wanted somebody else to grant SSH access to you, then you’d have to
explain to them how to use your script first.

On the other hand, sshadduser has super simple syntax. It runs interactively,
so you don’t need to memorize a bunch of command line flags to use it. It’s
easy to install on any reasonably modern *nix. And if you want somebody else
to use it, just point them at this README.

Installation

python3 and pip3 are prerequisites. Once you have those, run:

$ sudo pip3 install sshadduser

Usage

Specify the name of the user to create followed by supplemental groups (if
any). You will be prompted for a password and optional OpenSSH keys. For
example to create a user jane and add her to sudo and rockstar groups:

If you want to file a bug report, run the command with verbose logging enabled
and attach the complete output:

$ sudo sshadduser -v debug jane

Compatibility

Designed for POSIX environments, this is still a beta-quality project and it
has not been tested on many platforms. It has been tested on Ubuntu 14.04 and
16.04, and it should work on other systems, too. If you find that it does not
run somewhere that you need it, file an issue or — better yet — submit a pull
request.